Corbynista MP quits after she threatens to beat journalist with a bat
A KEY Jeremy Corbyn ally was forced to quit yesterday after being accused of wanting to ‘smash the face in’ of a reporter asking when she first knew about her son’s drug offences conviction.
Kate Osamor resigned from Labour’s Shadow Cabinet hours after reports she had told the journalist to ‘f*** off’ from outside her home and thrown a bucket of water at him.
Ms Osamor, whose son Ishmael pleaded guilty in September to having £ 2,500 worth of drugs with intent to supply, also allegedly told the reporter she ‘should have come down here with a bat and smashed your face in’.
The North London MP was being challenged to answer claims she had misled the public over when she first knew of the drugs conviction against her son, whom she still employs in her Commons office.
But within barely 24 hours of the confrontation, Ms Osamor – a close supporter of the Labour leader – quit as Mr Corbyn’s Shadow International Development Secretary and Mr Corbyn was forced to interrupt a trip to Mexico, for the inauguration of the country’s new president, to confirm she was going.
Her departure amounts to a personal humiliation for the Labour leader who has stood by Ms Osamor and who nominated her mother, community activist Martha Osamor, for a peerage, which she is formally due to take up this week.
The North London MP has faced questions over when she first knew of her son’s conviction and her decision to continue to employ him in her Commons office.
Labour has previously insisted she was unaware of the case until her son was sentenced in October.
But yesterday, The Times revealed that she wrote to the trial judge asking for leniency for Ishmael, 29, and stressing his remorse.
When the newspaper went to question Ms Osamor at her home on Friday night, she reportedly heaped abuse on the reporter and called in the police, accusing him of stalking her.
A Met spokesman said: ‘Officers attended and spoke with both parties. No offences were disclosed and no further allegations were made to police.’ But when The Mail on Sunday called at her property yesterday, she declined to answer the door and instead sent a Sky technician working at her home to say she was ‘not available’ while she called the police again.
On this occasion, Scotland Yard dispatched four officers. While two went inside the house, the others positioned themselves outside in a car and asked The Mail on Sunday reporter what he was doing.
Later, one of the officers emerged to say that Ms Osamor regretted threatening The Times reporter.
‘She was a bit tired, emotional... a little bit upset,’ he said. ‘I think she reacted in a way she regrets now.’ When this newspaper asked the Met to explain why four officers were dispatched because a journalist knocked on her door, a spokesman said: ‘We can’t say.’
But last night, one Labour MP said privately: ‘At time of stabbings across London, should we really be sending four officers to help out an MP who’s trying to avoid answering legitimate questions?’
Ms Osamor did not respond to questions from The Mail on Sunday about her behaviour on Friday evening. But she faced mockery yesterday for tweeting earlier on Friday how she had been ‘knocking on doors in Edmonton… speaking to residents about the recent violent incidents’.
In her resignation statement, Ms Osamor said she was quitting ‘to concentrate on supporting my family through the difficult time we have been experiencing’.
Mr Corbyn thanked her for her work as ‘our Shadow Secretary of State for International Development’ adding: ‘She brought a new dimension to the role by commit- ting Labour to tackling global inequality as well as poverty as part of building a world for the many not the few. I know Kate will take this time to support her family, work for her constituents and support our party’s efforts to rebuild Britain from the backbenches.’
But one senior Labour Shadow Minister said: ‘If she did behave as reported, it’s a disgrace.
‘ MPs are trying to stamp out Westminster’s bullying reputation – you can’t have an MP seemingly threatening violence against a reporter doing their job.’